Faulkner relies on the use of parallels to bring a contradiction of character versus arising action, illuminating the differences between Abner’s questionable personality and the liveliness of fire. From the beginning of the story, the cold and serious personality of Abner comes to light through the carelessness he shows for other people’s belongings and particularly the arson that he commits on a landowner’s barn. Unlike the fire Abner unleashes on those more “powerful” than he, he is tin-like and stiff and treats his family with borderline emotionless standards of authority and control. Compared to fire, which is ravaging and despite destructive, very vivid and bountiful with life despite its tendencies. For a man of such bitterness and calculative personality, using fire as an escape from the oppressing condescension of landowners shows an underlying layer of intensity between Abner and his habit of burning barns.
Through Sartoris, the reader is able to obtain the glimpses of further comparison.
Abner is impassive towards his daughters and shows only the slightest concern for Sarty when it comes to lying or protecting the family dignity - which according to Abner is the only thing that he should protect whether through lying or not.
Abner’s actions of wiping his feet on the expensive rug show his disdain for anyone that views themselves as his superior but also as a way to show himself wiping away his own problems onto those deem themselves higher than he. By burning down their barns he is able to establish a level ground between himself and whomever he is sharecropping with at the time and exposing the hostilities that Abner has towards those with more than himself.
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